River Avenue Blues

Well, at least no tabloid stooped to the “Mo isn’t Mr. Automatic anymore” bit.

In the long run, that loss won’t kill the Yanks. In the short term, however, it really stings. Twice they were just a strike away from winning, and twice the at bat ended in disappointment. I could probably gush for hours about it, but since it was just a freak occurrence, I’ll just leave it be. Hopefully we can look back on this in September and laugh.

I wish I had more as far as a recap goes, but sadly I don’t. Some crappy defense by Jeter cost them a run in the first, and Mientkiewicz’s slow ass cost them a run — or at least a run-scoring situation — in the sixth. Okay, fine: it was more the favorable rebound off the wall that cost them a run. But if that’s anyone but Minky or Giambi at third, that run scores and you still have Alex up with a man on. Thankfully, he, Giambi, Posada, Cano, and Melky rendered that moot the next inning, plating three runs to take the lead.

I have to admit, I tuned out for portions in the middle of the game. It was seriously frustrating. Before the seventh inning, the Yankees failed to have more than four hitters complete at bats. That happened seven times for the Athletics, as they only put something together in the first and ninth innings.

Having a day off today is a good thing. Beyond the apparently devastating rainfall (that has cancelled work for both of my roommates), it’s really tough to watch a game following a weekend series like that. All three games were winnable, and I’m just glad we didn’t get swept. I don’t know if it’s the worst part or the best part, but we could have swept them, too.

Baseball is a funny game.

Not much to say on my end as I didn’t get to watch this game. Good win tonight, and good to see Giambi coming through with the big hit after an 0-for-5 evening. Maybe this will get him started.

I have just a few quick points:

• I don’t see why Doug Mientkiewicz is pinch-hitting for anyone. At this point, his value lies as a late-inning defensive replacement for Giambi or Josh Phelps. With his 0-fer performance tonight, Mientkiewicz has now gone hitless in this last 23 at-bats and has reached base once in his last 24. That’s dismal. No amount of great fielding can compensate for that lack of hitting.
• Meanwhile, I did indeed say Jason Giambi as a potential first baseman. Over three years ago on a baseball blog far, fara way, I wrote about split stats comparing DHs to their time in the field vs. their time solely as DH’s. In 2004, I noted that Jason Giambi hit significantly better in the field than he did as a DH. And the same still holds true. His slugging is .100 points higher when he plays the field. Maybe playing the field keeps him more focused on the game as a whole and less focused on succeeding during his one at bat every few innings. Sports are very psychological, and as Giambi continues to struggle, when will he get some starts in the field? Giambi’s bat producing at his normal level is much more important that a few runs per season saved with a better fielder. There’s no doubt about that.
• Tonight was the third game in a row in which Scott Proctor pitched. I’m just sayin’.
• Finally, good to see the bullpen throwing strikes. While burning up every reliever is never a good thing, 12 innings of shutting down the A’s is pretty damn impressive. No earned runs tonight from the pitching staff, and Farnsworth’s pitch totals — 16 pitches, 10 strikes — during his third appearance in three games is encouraging. Maybe he really did spot a flaw after all.

And finally, in very good news, Chien-Ming Wang took the mound Saturday in extended Spring Training. He went five strong innings, allowing no hits and striking out six. No word on how many ground balls he induced. Wang is now on target to rejoin the Yanks on April 24.